406 - 8/2/2024 16:40
Ron..NE ILL..10/48 - 8/2/2024 05:33
Does anyone remember the aerial applicator from ND that used to be on Ag Talk a couple years ago? He was one of the fiercest opponents to drones that I knew of. Declared them as toys and predicted that soon there would be tragedy from a mid-air collision of the "toys" and a real crop sprayer plane. He declared drones as toys and had no business in above ground airspace.
I've always wondered if he still reads AT and reads about the upswing in drones in aerial spray ops.
In their current iteration and utilization by the masses, drones are for the most part nothing more than toys for boys. There are certainly some exceptions of course, but most people that are currently applying with drones are pilots and applicators in name only.
The opportunity and incidence of application errors is no less than any other form of application, and in many cases is much greater due to the lack of experience and naivety of current drone “operators”. Lots of hard lessons about the application business, FAA, and liabilities of all sorts are forthcoming.
Close friend of mine got a healthy dose of fungicide on his person this morning - courtesy of a local drone spraying corn in off label wind conditions. Operator was standing on his trailer a half mile away, had “line of sight” to the drone, but had zero ability to see what/who was on the road next to the drone.
EVERY single type of application has off target incidences, but drones have a lot more risk in that regard due to having nobody at the actual point of dispersion to make in the moment judgement calls. Drones are getting a lot of free passes at the moment due to their novelty - but that romance will soon fade.
Anybody spraying with a drone?
